Dive Details
Location
Date
Sunday 31 July 2016
Time
2:39pm - 4:22pm
Details
t was a little rougher at The Leap than the forecast suggested but certainly not too rough to dive. The low platform was being hit by waves so I slid down the wall. Once we were all ready we descended and swam to the sand line at around 30°. It was tough going as the current from the incoming tide was quite strong. We hit the sand line near the rock I last saw "Bob" and "Lucy" (pot-bellied seahorses). Visibility was only around 5 metres and it was just over 17°C. We turned right and headed towards The Steps.
The current was still pretty strong so we didn't need to do much swimming, just drifting with the current. We saw our first weedy seadragon (PT2016073101) just below Southern Cross Rock. It was a large juvenile that I don't believe I have seen previously. At the start of Seadragon Alley we came across another weedy seadragon (PT2015051001). This was one of the juveniles from last year. We saw one more weedy (PT2016073102) in Seadragon Alley, another new large juvenile.
We drifted on past Big Rock and along the sand line to Diversity Rock. Here I found the older female pygmy pipehorse (IL2016061401) and the male (IL2016073001) I'd found yesterday. I couldn't find the female I'd found yesterday. Versnar, Stephen and the others left me at this point. I searched Diversity Rock for more pygmy pipehorses but did not find any more.
I swam back to the basket star Sheree had found yesterday. I wish there was some way to determine if it was the basket star that had moved from the sand line or not. I revisited Diversity Rock and then made my way along the sand line towards The Steps. I moved inshore for a bit to check out the rock where "Di" and "Mikhail" had been but didn't find anything interesting. I went back to the sand line and continued almost in line with the exit before turning around and swimming south east for a time before heading to the boulders. Once I hit 5 metres I started my safety stop while swimming to split rock to finish my safety stop. I exited at The Steps.
Buddy
Versnar Ng, Stephen Kong, et al
Seas
Slight
Visibility
5 metres
Duration
102 minutes
Maximum depth
21.4 m
Average depth
13.1 m
Water temperature
17.1°C
Dive Profile from Citizen Hyper Aqualand
Tides at Botany Bay AEST
Note that tides at dive site may vary from above location.
Low
12:12am
0.40m
High
6:04am
1.36m
Low
11:47am
0.46m
High
6:23pm
1.85m
Camera gear
Camera
Nikon D7000
Lens
Nikon AF Micro-Nikkor 60mm f/2.8D
Housing
Ikelite 6801.70
Lens port
Ikelite Flat Port 5502.41
Strobe
2 x Ikelite SubStrobe DS161
Photographs
Depth information, where present, indicates the depth of the camera when the photograph was taken and can be used to approximate the depth of the subject.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2015051001). 18.4 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 17.8 m.
Port Jackson shark, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 17.6 m.
Weedy seadragon, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus, (PT2016073102). 17.1 m.
Port Jackson shark eye, Heterodontus portusjacksoni. 16.5 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016073001). 13.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.2 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016073001). 13.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.1 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.3 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016073001). 13.2 m.
Male Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016073001). 13.3 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.2 m.
Basket star, Astrosierra amblyconus. 12.6 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.2 m.
Female Sydney pygmy pipehorse, Idiotropiscis lumnitzeri, (IL2016061401). 13.3 m.
Nudibranch, Phyllodesmium poindimiei. 12.6 m.
Common Sydney octopus, Octopus tetricus. 12 m.
Mourning cuttlefish, Sepia plangon. 9.8 m.
Two-spot lizardfish, Synodus dermatogenys. 10.5 m.